Updated 11.45am - Tourism Ministry statement
Tourist arrivals in July soared by 10.7 per cent to reach 229,671, when compared to the corresponding month last year.
The NSO said 196,768 arrivals were for holiday purposes, while a further
9,163 were for business purposes.
Inbound tourists from EU went up by 9.6 per cent to 187,018 when compared to the corresponding month of 2015. The majority of inbound tourists were aged between 25 and 44, followed by those within the 0-24 age bracket.
Total nights spent went up by 3.5 per cent when compared to July 2015, amounting to 1,929,113 nights. The largest share of guest nights (54.2 per cent) was spent in hotels.
Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €229.6 million, an increase of 4.3 per cent.
January-July 2016
Inbound tourist trips from January to July amounted to 1,055,189, an increase of 9.7 per cent over the same period in 2015. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 7.3 per cent, almost 7.8 million nights.
Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €886.0 million, 5.4 per cent higher than that recorded for 2015. Total expenditure per capita stood at €840, a decrease of 3.9 per cent when compared to 2015.
Million tourist arrivals within seven months
In a statement, the Tourism Ministry said this was the first time that tourist arrivals had exceeded a million after just seven months of the year.
It also welcomed the fact that earnings from tourism in July reached €230 million, an increase of €39.4 million from July last year.
Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis thanked all concerned, saying tourism performance in July was a record.
He also noted that the airport had reported a 2.3 per cent increase in passenger numbers in August. This, he said, confirmed confidence in the country.